Complete control of insect pests 100%- the benefits of fumigation

Monday 18th January 2021

If you have insects on site then the best place to start is with a free fumigation consultation- get in touch using the button below

In a manufacturing, food production or food processing environment, insects can be a real problem.

Insects are attracted by the warmth and smell of food processing environments particularly. And many insects are brought straight into the heart of processing sites in infested commodities if supply chain QA procedures aren’t robust enough.

Sometimes insects have been present on a site for so long that the smell of the insect pheromones will draw more insects in. Sometimes it even becomes strong enough to register on the human nose. A good pest controller will be able to tell you if they can smell insects in the air of warehouses. Confused flour beetle have a very vivid and recognisable smell for instance.

Insect control programmes can be long-winded things. Lots of pest control companies take over the pest control contract at food manufacturers’ sites and can deal with the rats and mice very well but haven’t got the training, experience or the equipment to be able to deal with insect infestation.

At Dealey we have a whole set of services designed exactly for insect control in the food manufacturing sector. For our article on the foundations of a good insect control service, see here: https://www.dealey.co.uk/blog/how-to-reduce-the-number

Sometimes the long term, foundational approach can’t be used, however. What if there has been a very public customer complaint? What if the factory may be threatened with closure because of the numbers of insects suddenly appearing? What if there is a tough, ingrained infestation that can’t be found?

That is when we consider fumigation as an option.

Fumigation is different from other methods of pest control because it uses gases to control insects.

Using gases as opposed to sprays, fogs, smoke and mists can be highly effective because it is so penetrative. The gases get into all the void spaces, the tiniest cracks and right into machinery that is so complex it can only be cleaned on the outside.

Of course, the penetrative nature of the gas also means that fumigation can be extremely dangerous. Fumigators must be trained to a very high level, have an understanding of the biology, chemistry and physics involved, and have all of their practical skills assessed for safety before they can apply gases.

But all of this skill development and potential danger has a pay-off.

Fumigation is the only pest control treatment that can guarantee and prove 100% effectiveness in just one application. In many cases fumigation must be 100% effective because a re-treatment is contrary to the legal terms of use of the fumigant.

Fumigation is also effective against all life stages of insects; adults, larvae pupae and eggs. *Science Warning!* This is because while normal broad spectrum insecticides that are fogged or sprayed have one ‘mode of action’ (maybe they are axonic excitoxins, maybe they are an anticholinesterase etc) fumigants work in many ways all at once largely by interfering with the way that an organism interacts with oxygen. This means that any insect life stage that needs oxygen, and that is all of them, will be susceptible to a fumigant

The fact that fumigation is 100% effective against insects means that it can be a very effective ‘fire-break’ in the development of insect populations, meaning that a fumigation plan can be worked in conjunction with a long term insect control plan. On many sites we find ourselves working alongside pest control companies to help the insect control along a bit.

If you would like to see an end to insect populations on your site, or if you are a pest control company who is struggling with an insect population that just won’t go away, please feel free to get in touch for a no-charge consultation.